Beneath City Lights
by sandcastlemaker
Summary: Dr. Regina Mills assists in restarting the heart of a non-responsive Jane Doe. When she finds herself the main caregiver to this young woman, Dr. Mills can't help but wonder about the blonde. Regina knows the answers to her questions can only be provided by the blonde herself, so she puts her talents as a Dr. to work, hoping that she can somehow wake up this Sleeping Beauty.
1. Chapter 1

**title:** Beneath City Lights

**summary:** Dr. Regina Mills is a practicing Cardiologist in New York. She endures a life-changing experience as she assists in restarting the heart of a non-responsive Jane Doe. When she suddenly finds herself the main caregiver to this young woman, Dr. Mills can't help but wonder about the blonde. Who is she? How did she come here? Regina knows the answers to her questions can only be answered by the blonde herself, so she puts her talents as a Dr. to work, hoping against all hope that she can somehow wake up this Sleeping Beauty.

**disclaimer:** Yadda-freakin-yadda. I unfortunately didn't come up with the idea of Once Upon a Time. These characters belong to two very amazing people, Adam and Eddy. Although their lack of SwanQueen in the show makes me want to wrap a noose around my neck as I simultaneously jump off a speeding train going over a 1000 foot bridge, I admire them and their ability to tell their incredible tale on screen. I will be borrowing their characters for this story. THEY AREN'T MINE *grumblegrumble*

**additional notes:** Hi! Before we begin, I must admit that unfortunately, I am my own Beta-Reader, so any typos, grammatical errors, or misrepresentation of the Medical Field is entirely my fault. I have included a much more in depth note at the end of this Chapter, which I hope you will enjoy very much. THANK YOU for reading, and have a wonderful day!

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><p><strong>BENEATH CITY LIGHTS<strong>

"_Bellevue Medical Main, Rapid Response, 8-MPCU."_

Dr. Regina Mills was nearly done seeing patients for the day when the speakers that adorned the hallways throughout the hospital she worked in suddenly crackled to life, signaling an important announcement. As she heard the first sentence flow around her, she glanced down at the onyx encrusted watch wrapped her wrist, noting the time.

_5pm. _

"_Bellevue Medical Main, Rapid Response, 8-MPCU."_

She slowly came to a halt as the call reverberated around her, looking up from her watch as a group of nurses hurried past. They were no doubt on their way to the Call. Their sneakers pounded over the white tiled floor, worry evident on their faces.

"_Bellevue Medical Main, Rapid Response, 8-MPCU."_

She turned her head and watched them run down the hall way, headed for the stairwell that would lead them one floor below. She debated about whether to follow them to the Rapid Response call and offer her services, but instead slid a hand through dark coffee colored hair as she slowly turned her head back around and resumed walking to the room of her last patient. There were probably enough Nurses already attending the call, and she really needed to begin the long process of discharging her patient in Room 974. She really wanted to get home at a decent hour that night, and she was already running further behind than she preferred.

The brunette walked all of four steps further to her destination before the jolting of the Hospital wide sound system resounded overhead once more. The pristine and clear voice of a woman slid smoothly over the intercom.

"_Bellevue Medical Main, Code Zero, 8-MPCU."_

Dr. Mills' heart sank to her feet. She stopped dead in her tracks upon hearing the Rapid Response call re-announced as Code Zero.

"_Bellevue Medical Main, Code Zero, 8-MPCU."_

"Shit," she quietly said to herself, fully turning on the balls of her feet and trotting toward the stairwell that the nurses who had passed her only moments before had been running to. Her own pager began to vibrate in her pocket as the Code beckoned for her to attend. She pulled the black pager out of her white coat pocket, looking down at it as she flung the door to the stairwell open. In bold, all capital letters, a message angrily glared at her that there was a Code Zero on the 8th Floor, suggesting she respond, quickly followed by a second page wanting to know when she was going to arrive to the Nurses Station on Floor 9 to discharge Room 974. She rolled her eyes and stuffed the pager back into her pocket. Mrs. Johnson was unfortunately going to have to wait until after the Code to be discharged. Dr. Mills was going to have to direct this Code, whether she wanted to, or not.

"_Bellevue Medical Main, Code Zero, 8-MPCU."_

Just as Regina hit the landing of the 8th Floor, the voice rang out one last time, never wavering in its calm but direct vocal delivery. Upon arriving, she immediately noted the large throng of people not twenty feet from the door she ran through. There were several nurses and other staff members filing into Room 832, a Crash Cart being toted in via the man she recognized to be the floor's Charge Nurse. He nodded at her and waved her over, asking people to step aside to let the Dr. through. Dr. Mills was immediately absolute No-Nonsense. She quickly schooled her features as she pulled out her signature Mask of Superiority (the one that made any and all tremble in her wake at the hospital), parting waves of staff as she waltzed into the room. She took quick inventory of all the goings-on around her; there were two nurses with their backs to her, hovering over the patient's bed. The female nurse clad in bright blue scrubs was already performing chest compressions, arms pumping in feverish attempt to restart the lifeless heart of the body below her.

Her dark eyes darted quickly to the Charge Nurse pulling the crash cart in after her.

"Chart!" she said, pointedly holding her outstretched arm in his direction.

The man in navy scrubs placed the dark green binder in her hands. Brown eyes glanced at the front of the binder to see if the patient had any allergies but there was nothing listed, so she quickly flipped to the current medications page. It was sparse, not containing much information.

"What happened? Who is this nurse to this patient?"

The woman standing beside the nurse currently delivering chest compressions turned and stated that she was the patient's nurse.

"Jane Doe, roughly 25-30 years old, came into the hospital three days ago. She was found on the side of the road and Med-flighted in. Patient is non-responsive. She was in MICU for two days and transferred to us this morning. Blood pressure has been low all day, but dropped to 85/40 about an hour ago. We were trying to send Patient back to MI, but her blood pressure dropped to 70/35 and her heart rate shot up to about 150 beats per minute before a bed reservation could be made. Telemetry called to alert us of the Patient experiencing AFib, but as soon as I hung up, the Red Phone rang, alerting us that heart activity had ceased completely."

Dr. Mills had walked to the head of the patient's bed, still nose deep in the woman's chart while listening to the nurse speak as she read over previous orders and gathered a brief history. There wasn't much to go on, since the patient had not been identified, nor had she regained consciousness the entire time she had been Admitted.

"Who is her Attending?" she asked, setting the chart down on the bedside table next to her.

The air in the small room was thick and hot. Several bodies worked endlessly, restarting the blood pressure machine every so often and pausing compressions to see if the patient's heart had resumed rhythm on its own. The PulseOx that wrapped around the patient's finger and connected to the monitor on the wall showed no change in heart rate or oxygen level, which was currently at 43%.

"It's Dr. Whale, but he's been trying to get another Hospitalist to take over her case since she is a Jane Doe and most likely won't have insurance."

Regina rolled her large brown eyes and shook a lock of hair from her face. _Dr. Whale – what a jackass_. She pretty much hated his guts. They'd had several altercations over the years, constantly in each other's faces as they argued over patient care and treatments. Since he was one of the main Hospitalists, Regina was always assigned to his cases as a Cardiac Consultant. She was curious as to why she hadn't already been summoned to see this woman since she was clearly showing signs of heart problems, but she was grateful she hadn't already had to endure his egotistical, sexist "I Am Man, You Are Woman" attitude any more than she was forced to.

"Fine," Dr. Mills exhaled professionally, "Where is he now? Has anyone alerted him to his patient's status?"

One of the nurses by the door nodded. "Yes, we paged him when her blood pressure started dropping."

"And he hasn't called back yet?" Regina questioned, not all that surprised.

The woman shook her head. "No Dr. Mills, he hasn't called back. I'll go wait by the phone at the desk, though." The woman turned and exited, grateful to be out from under the glaring brown eyes of the famed Dr. Mills.

Regina rolled her eyes again and looked to the PulseOx monitor on the wall by her head. The patient's O2 Level was only 40%, and dropping quickly. She realized Dr. Whale was not going to respond to this call, so she pulled herself up straighter and further took control of the situation. She raised her voice, calmly addressing the entire room.

"Let's get oxygen to her brain, ok? Do we have Respiratory on standby to administer bedside intubation?"

The Respiratory Therapist stepped forward. He had been ready to jump the moment Dr. Mills came into the room. It wasn't their first Code together. He knew how she operated, and quietly waited for her command, supplies in hand.

Stalking further to the head of the bed, Regina chanced her first true look at the woman whose body jostled and jolted beneath the fierce thrusting of hands to her sternum. Her face was ghostly pale, and the soft, blue lips of her mouth formed a deep frown. Long, tangled waves of gold fell from her skull and framed her head, accentuating high, chiseled cheekbones. Through her green hospital gown, Regina could see that woman's body was lean and toned. She wondered how a person whose body seemed so fit had rendered herself into to hospital, not to mention completely unidentifiable and non-responsive, at that. She figured that the tragically beautiful form lying on the bed before her was surely being missed by several people by now.

All of this ran through her mind in less than a half second, because it was obvious the young blonde was getting no oxygen to her brain. It was time to intubate. Regina looked to the Respiratory Therapist and nodded.

"Alright, let's do this," she commanded, stepping aside for the Respiratory Therapist to reach the blonde's head.

As the man prepped the patient for intubation, another nurse came running into the crowded room.

"A bed just opened in MI. Bed 5. Are we ready to roll?"

Dr. Mills swung her dark, smoking gaze to the Charge Nurse.

"David?" she questioned. He nodded quickly, and they both turned to the patient as a tube slid easily down her throat, providing her lungs with much needed O2. The monitor on the wall quickly began to change, as it proclaimed that her Blood-Oxygen Level was climbing steadily from 34%. Shortly after Intubation, the Charge Nurse David called for a pause in chest compressions. A weak pulse vibrated onto the screen of the crash cart before him. A tech standing beside the blood pressure machine pressed the "Start" button, inflating the cuff around the patient's arm. The whole room stilled to a halt, waiting with baited breath, scared that her blood pressure would be too low or that the slow and quiet pulse of her heart would sputter out and stop, keeping them from moving her back to the ICU. After the machine relaxed its hold on the woman's arm, numbers displayed themselves, violently flashing on the screen, alerting everyone that her numbers were critical, but high enough to move her.

_Pressure: 84/45, Heart Rate:__ea__ 45bpm._

"Alright people, let's roll. MI, Bed 5!" Regina yelled over the sudden commotion that erupted through the room. Techs gathered the patient's belongings while nurses unlocked the break on the bed and began to wheel it out of the room. Regina inwardly groaned as she looked to the clock on the wall. It was 5:45pm. It was getting late. She still had to follow this patient downstairs to MI and give a thorough description of the Code before coming back upstairs to 9 to begin Discharge on 974 who, judging by the several flashing lights on her pager, was quite anxious to leave.

She grimaced to herself as she quickly walked after the parade of Nurses and Respiratory Therapists bringing the bed to the Staff Elevators. They were larger than the regular Public elevators, enough to easily fit the elongated hospital bed and thrumming crowd people in transport. There was no possible way she was going to be home in time to kiss her ten year old son goodnight. The relationship she shared with her son had been strained lately, as Regina had been working several late hours at the hospital. It was something the boy didn't understand. She silently cursed herself as she made a mental note to call him when she arrived back to the 9th Floor, and apologize for having to stay late at work once again. If only that douchebag Dr. Whale would respond to his pages every now and then, she could have been on her way to 9 now.

The elevator dinged as it slowed to a stop on the 3rd floor. Regina gathered herself and pushed all thoughts of her home life out of her head. It was time to take the lead once again.

"Alright everyone, let's move," she said, stepping off the elevator first and leading the way down the long hall to MICU. As they came closer to a set of double doors, Dr. Mills swiped her badge on a card-reader on the wall and waved her hand over the motion sensor above it. The sensor acknowledged her privileged badge with a short beep as the doors unlocked with a gentle click, granting her entrance into the Unit. A few of the ICU nurses were waiting for their arrival, smiling at friends they knew from MPCU. Dr. Mills was approached by a nurse at the desk, as the rest of the team hurried the still unconscious (but breathing) form of the blonde to Room 5.

"Zelena - hi. Are you taking the Jane Doe from MPCU?" Dr. Mills was still all business, and just a little bit of sass. The secretary known as Zelena nodded. She knew not to fuck with Dr. Mills in any way, because the woman had a reputation throughout the entire hospital as being a total hard ass. She didn't dare even smile at the doctor, for fear of being reprimanded. Regina gave Zelena a quick run-down of what had transpired during the Code. The red head remembered the Patient from the day before when she had been in the Unit.

"She's not under my care, but I _would_ like to know what possessed you all to transfer this patient out of MICU and to a regular recovery floor? She's clearly still very sick."

Zelena should have known this was coming. She took a deep breath and faced the stoic woman before her. "I have no idea, Dr. Mills. If it were up to me, she would have stayed here until she was more stable."

That answer simply wasn't enough to appease the dark haired beauty. "Well obviously the decision to move her _was_ up to someone, am I right, Zelena? Who _the Hell_ decided to move this woman, and what was the reasoning behind it?"

Zelena cowered slightly beneath the flashing eyes before her. "I think Dr. Whale was afraid she wouldn't have insurance, and wanted to get her moved and out of the hospital as quickly as possible, even if it meant that she never regained consciousness and became a ward of the State."

That was enough to send Dr. Mills over the edge. She turned hard, planting one long leg into the ground as she swiveled on black leather Jimmy Choo boots (with the thin gold heels, of course!) and viciously strode toward the room where the transport party had just entered.

"If that _bastard_ can't take proper care of his patients…" she muttered under her breath, heat vibrating off her body in angry waves. She looked in on the now still and quiet form lying on white hospital sheets. She moved closer, really studying the woman's face, briefly wondering what color her eyes were. The woman was still pale, but a pinkness had returned to her brow and nose, and her lips were once again flushed with blood. Now that Regina really had a chance to look, she admired the sweeping planes of white cheeks, the curve of her chin, and the strong bones of her jaw. The woman was actually really beautiful. She glanced at the clock on the wall and jumped, then jerked her head down to see if the time on the clock matched the numbers on her wrist.

_6:15pm?!_

She tied up all the loose ends with the nurses and Charge Nurse in MI, stealing one last look at the face of the woman in Bed 5 before she turned and walked back to the elevators. When she rounded the corner, she noticed the Charge Nurse from 8MPCU was leaned up against the wall by the elevators. He looked up at her, and nodded.

"Dr. Mills."

She nodded and gave the man a small smile.

"David."

They stood together for several moments, waiting for the ding of the elevator. Regina could tell the man was staring at her, but she refused to look his way. He finally broke the silence, not able to stand the tension anymore.

"You did great in there, as always," he complimented.

She turned dark brown eyes to him, softening them as she did so. "Thank you, David. I really don't understand how that was allowed to happen."

He snorted as the elevator dinged and the doors opened.

"Really? You're surprised? It's Whale. He doesn't give two shits about patients who can't make him any money."

They both stepped into the elevator, pressing the buttons to their respective floors.

"That much is apparent," Regina stated, stepping back and crossing her arms over her chest, "but what I don't understand is how he _never_ gets in trouble for things like this. For, well, _anything_ he's done."

She shook her head, tossing her disgust for the man aside. Turning fully to David, she frowned.

"I'm going to be home late again."

David nodded, knowingly. "Henry will understand, Regina. He's just going through a phase right now. Don't let it upset you so much." He smiled, trying to reassure the brunette.

"That's what I keep trying to tell myself," she admitted, closing her eyes and letting her famous mask waver slightly from her face, "but truthfully he's just becoming more withdrawn. Even when I am home with him he barely speaks to me, and he just retreats to his fantasy world. It's just so hard when all we have is each other. There's no one else to help raise him. It's just me." She shrugged, and fought the urge to cry. She had known David for a very long time, but this was not the place to lose herself. No, Dr. Regina Mills didn't need anyone, she reminded herself. She never really had needed anyone, not since she was young. Other than her son, she vowed she would never need anyone again, either. She straightened up and smiled, Mask of Security placed firmly back on her face. David slightly shook his head, knowing exactly what she was doing. She was shutting him out.

Before he could say anything else, try to convince her that she should continue to be open and honest, the elevator halted, announcing that they had arrived on the 8th Floor. Regina nodded and bid him goodbye as he regretfully stepped off the elevator. She refused to look his direction as the doors closed around her, leaving her once again alone.

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><p>She sat very still in her Mercedes, the outer blackness of the vintage 560SL reflecting the mood brewing inside her. She was tired, and having a difficult time making herself get out of the car. Delicate hands gripped the steering wheel, knuckles white from the pressure she exerted upon the leather. The drive from Manhattan to the home she shared with her son in Westchester wasn't really that long – maybe 40 minutes depending on traffic, but the late hour in which she had finally been able to leave the hospital had her anxious to even guess what time it was. Dark brown eyes swept to the clock on her dash.<p>

_9:30pm._

Of course Henry would be in bed by now. If he wasn't already asleep, he would definitely pretend to be once he heard the front door open. He was just that kind of kid. If he was angry, he wouldn't throw a tantrum or act foolish. Instead, he found more cunning ways to let his mother know she was on his List. Denying her affection and punishing her by withdrawing himself was his usual poison of choice. She couldn't deny that the proverbial apple hadn't fallen far from the tree.

Finally, after several moments of shoving down her creeping anxiety, she reached a hand forward and shut the car's engine off. It died instantly, along with the breath she hadn't known she was holding. She plucked the red leather Balenciaga bag from where it sat on the passenger seat and settled it into the crook of her arm, gracefully exiting the vehicle. The short walk to her porch seemed to dredge on forever. Unlocking her front door, she stepped inside and sighed. The only light that seemed to be on in her house was coming from the kitchen. It was dim, and she knew it was just the light over the sink. No doubt Henry had assured Granny (a family friend of sorts) he would be fine left alone, and she no doubt had relented after dropping him off from school. She owned a diner in the city, and didn't usually stay very late with Henry since she often worked the evening shift.

She set her expensive bag down on the small table below a gold framed mirror in her foyer. Without sparing a glance at her reflection, she pulled her black leather gloves from each finger, and then removed them from her hand, one by one. She placed them in the drawer of the small table, and turned, walking further into the house. Slowly, she sauntered through her home, climbing the beautiful staircase, and made her way down the upstairs hall. She paused outside her son's room, hand on the handle. For a moment, she considered knocking and sticking her head in the door to see if he was awake, but she changed her mind, allowing her fingers to gingerly slip off the handle as she turned and walked to her room.

Entering the large bedroom, she crossed to her closet and walked inside, slipped out of her black Burberry pea coat and placed it on its proper hanger. She unzipped each calf length Jimmy Choo boot and sat them in their respective slots of her enormous shoe shelf. Her right hand wound around behind her neck to grasp at the zipper of her dark black dress. Her other hand snaked behind to pull the zipper the rest of the way down, right below the small of her back. Pulling her arms out of the sleeves and pushing it down her tan body, she stepped out of the dress and hung it a bag to be sent to dry cleaning. She sighed as she slowly spun around her grand closet, taking in all of its belongings. There were blacks, reds, some dark blues, greys, the occasional white – all in all, she woefully decided her wardrobe looked like a massive bruise. She sighed and exited the closet and walked pointedly to the en suite bathroom.

Upon entering, she slipped her hand into the shower stall and turned the knob to Warm. As the water began to heat up, she finally raised her eyes slow upward to stare at her reflection in the large mirror before her. Dark eyes analyzed every part of herself, from the tallest hair on her head to the burgundy paint on her toe nails. She unlatched her bra and tossed it into the hamper beside the mirror, her underwear quickly following. She moved back to the mirror, leaning forward to inspect a few pores on her nose. Steam billowed from the shower, brushing and clinging to the edges of the ornate reflective glass. Her eyes flickered back upwards to stare deeply into themselves, darker thoughts replacing the ones of scrutiny that her physique had been under only moments before. The steam curled and licked over the smooth surface, seeping closer and closer to the center of the wide expanse before her.

_No one will ever truly love me._

At that moment, the steam enveloped the glass entirely, cutting the brunette's vision off from sinking further into the depths of her black eyes. She shook her head, throwing herself from her reverie. She stood tall, throwing her shoulders back, and turned to step into her shower. The hot water ran over her scalp and down her shoulders. She turned and lifted her face into the water stream, running her hands over her delicate features, removing all traces of makeup and relaxing the strained muscles in her forehead and jaw. Her hand ran through her hair, slathering it with lavender scented shampoo. Deft fingers worked the lather into each dark lock, trying to will away the day's events.

Regina was tired, and she closed her eyes while the heavy spray massaged tense shoulders. Her head dipped lower and lower, until her chin rested against her chest. She stayed that way for a few moments, allowing herself to drift slightly. A vision slowly seeped into her mind. It was of long, tangled blonde hair, eyes shut tightly beneath a rack of thick dark lashes, face pale and unmoving. In her mind's eye, she saw her hand reach out slowly to caress a white cheek. She leaned closer to observe the woman's breathing – counting the respirations. The blond was breathing 14 times a minute. Just as she was about to remove her hand, the lids of the woman's eyes popped open to reveal bright blue irises, both of which stared right at her.

Regina not only jumped in her vision, but she startled in real life, as well. She looked around, slightly confused about where she was. She noticed she was sitting on the floor of her shower, water still running above her. She shook her head to clear the waning fog of her brain. Had she _actually_ sat down and fallen asleep in the shower? She couldn't believe it. God, she needed a freaking week off of work. It was exhausting, and she was tired. She was tired of life, tired of fighting with her son, and damn tired of being alone. She stood up and wrenched the knob forcefully back to the "Off" position, huffing loudly.

The brunette then slid the door to her shower back and reached her hand forward to land on a soft black towel. She wrapped it around her body, and stepped forward to the mirror. Her hand came up and wiped once across the glass, revealing her face to herself yet again. She stared at her reflection, the right side of her lip curled up in frustration.

"God…" she whined, stomping her foot, balling her hand into a fist.

Throwing another towel over her head, she quickly rubbed it over her hair, bringing the collarbone length locks to a slightly damp status, before tossing both towels into the dirty clothes bin. She brushed her teeth, glaring at herself as she did so, making mental notes of the patients she had to see at the hospital in the morning. Replacing her tooth brush and paste, mouth wash and facial moisturizer, she sighed one last time at the girl in the mirror before turning and walking out of the en suite, shutting the light off as she went. She padded across the floor to her dresser drawers, pulling out a black satin and lace nightgown. She then slipped it over her head, reveling in the feel as it settled over each curve of her body.

Climbing into bed, she plucked a purple bottle of lavender scented body moisturizer from her nightstand and began rubbing small amounts of the lotion over her arms, her chest, her legs and her feet. After returning the lotion to its proper spot, she pulled back the black satin covers and slipped between the grey satin sheets. They were cool on her overheated body, and she loved the feel of the soft material running over her skin, tickling the backs of her knees. She made sure that her alarm was set to go off at her usual designated wake up time of 6:30, then reached forward to cut the switch of her bedside lamp.

Immediately following the inevitable enveloping of blackness, the brunette's mind was suddenly electric. She mused that the bleak darkness of the now colorless room evenly reflected her life, and she held back the small tear that threatened to escape the corner of her right eye. Thoughts ran themselves a full-blown marathon through her mind, and she couldn't help but let a few of the salty diamonds trickle down the planes of her tanned cheeks. When had her life taken such an un-organic turn? She reflected on the past year and deduced that she had simply been going through the motions of her life for quite a while now. Where was it that she had taken a wrong turn? Here she was, 35 years old and a renowned Cardiologist at a great hospital in New York City. She should be happy and proud, but instead, she just felt lost.

As exhaustion slowly overtook her, she closed her eyes and shifted her body to wrap toned arms around the pillow beside her. Her mind slipped slowly into oblivion, as sleep finally claimed its victim. The last thing she could remember was a flash of blonde hair, eyes clamped tightly closed, dark lashes lying softly over pale cheeks. She wouldn't sleep very well that night, and the blare of her alarm the next would come all too quickly.


	2. Chapter 2

Hey there my beautiful Regals and Oncers! Thanks for the follows and reviews. I'm sorry this second chapter has taken forever to get to you, but my computer caught a nasty virus, and I was unable to get it fixed for a long time due to not wanting to lose all my saved works. The chapters should flow much more quickly now that I have my computer back.

I'm normally a fluffy, descriptive sort of writer, but I just couldn't get this somewhat angsty story out of my head. Also, I'm afraid I should focus more on quantity than actual quality, since I'm not sure if my descriptive style really resonates with the fanfiction world, anyway. I am more a novel-esque type writer where every single word is vastly important, so I will instead try to churn out more word-count than descriptive art and not worry so much about grammatical errors and lack of vocabulary, if that's what you all want : ) Holla back, yo! I live for your reviews!

song:** TURN BLUE** – _The Black Keys_

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><p><em>It was dark, clearly late at night, and she walked forward through the parking lot with ease, almost floating to her destination. Cars were strewn about haphazardly, though there was not a soul to be found. Loud, muffled music poured from the site of the rave and reverberated through her chest. She reached the building's entrance and paused. The familiar blonde sitting on a stool at the door had tattoos covering her arms, creating an intricate sleeve. Her muted purple corset and short black leather skirt stood in stark contrast to the paleness of her skin. Wild, curly hair waved in the slight breeze, framing her face beautifully. Still, there was something sinister about her that Regina just couldn't put her finger on. The woman laughed wickedly as she watched the brunette approach.<em>

"_Regina Mills – so you finally showed up? I always knew you'd end up here." She cackled, then slapped the woman before her on the shoulder._

_The brunette cocked her hip and threw her left hand to her waist. She looked down and saw she donned a similar get up as the blonde before her – shiny black leather pants and a dark crimson corset that clung to her every curve and tied up the front with black ribbon. Where had she found this ridiculous outfit? She knew she didn't own anything like this at her mansion in Westchester._

"_Maleficent, you're the one who requested my presence tonight. Where the Hell are we?"_

_Her question only goaded the witch into laughing harder, and the brunette could feel her frustration creep up her spine like a beetle clawing over sensitive skin._

"_That is such an interesting question you pose, my darling! That's where we are, in fact."_

_Regina shook her head and narrowed her eyes._

"_Speak plainly, witch. Where are we?"_

_Maleficent sobered slightly, but still retained the glimmer of amusement in her icy blue eyes._

"_Hell, you stupid girl. You're standing at the entrance to Hell."_

_Regina recoiled at the admission, stealing a quick glance around her. Was she really standing at the entrance to Hell? That was absurd. She didn't even believe in Hell. This had to be a joke. Just then, a couple, obviously drunk, sauntered up behind her._

"_Hey Lady, are you going in, or what?" She blinked and opened her mouth, not quite sure _**what**_ she was planning on doing, or why she was even here, really. "At least move so we can get in. We've waited a long time to get here."_

_The couple laughed and grabbed each other, making out violently and groping one another inappropriately. The brunette watched with disgust, then turned back to Maleficent when she heard a stifled giggle._

"_You always had a feeling I was the gate keeper, didn't you," she commented, winking at the brunette. She then cleared her throat and tapped the preoccupied man on his back. The couple turned to her, still grinning._

"_Admission is free tonight," she loosed a toothy grin, sweeping her left hand toward the entrance._

_Regina watched the couple turn and wander through the maze-like opening; walls painted a sickly green and covered in stickers, writing, offensive spray paint and satanic band posters. When the couple turned the corner and entered the club, their laughing instantly ceased and turned into wild screams of terror. The awful sounds bounced off the walls and flowed into the street, taking only Regina by surprise. The blonde had expected it, she realized. A movement caught the brunette's eye, and she turned her gaze to the ground as a long spurt of blood meandered onto the concrete where the couple had turned the corner into the building. The dark red stain trickled down the side walk and right between her stilettoes._

_She stared in horror as the screaming subsided, and her ears were filled with the muffled, violent music emanating from the club once more. Looking up to the blonde before her, she saw the viciously entertained and pleased expression on her face._

"_Oh don't look so surprised, precious. They deserved it, trust me."_

_Regina took two steps sideways, avoiding the blood as she moved. She was speechless, and the blonde was really starting to creep her out._

"_Oh I see - you don't want any more blood on your hands than you've already got, is that right?"_

_The brunette's head snapped up quickly and she glared. She opened her mouth to fire off a biting retort, but the blonde beat her to it._

"_Really Regina, you look like a deer caught in the head lights. You don't think we know about your secret? You thought you could get away with murder? Oh no, darling. You belong to us. Your soul belongs to me."_

_The brunette took two more steps back before she slammed into something solid. Turning slowly, her dark eyes landed on the body of a large, hideous man dressed in a white doctor's coat, blood splattered down the front. She squeaked and jumped backwards, but he came at her. She barely had time to register the surgical scalpel in his hand before he had it at her throat. She couldn't make out any features of his mangled face, but tufts of brown hair poked out from the sides of his skull. Her wide eyes scanned the length of his arm, then down to find a name-tag pinned to his ruined jacket._

_**HENRY**__ it read, and her stomach roiled at the implications the name-tag provided. Was this ghastly and frightening man actually her son? Had she been such a sick and terrible mother that she had somehow contributed to making him a monster? She tried to step away from the horrible creature, but then Maleficent strode forward and melded firmly into her back, large lips pressed to the smaller woman's ear._

"_You can't escape, Regina. Just give in to me."_

_From overhead, she heard a maniacal and evil sound, causing her to shake where she stood. Terrified brown eyes shot skyward, and she almost faltered when a giant orange pumpkin sat high in the sky in place of where she had expected to see the moon. Dark clouds surrounded the enormous creature as a toothy, wicked grin split its face. Black, hollow eyes glared at her. The large, glowing orb opened its mouth and let loose another horribly deep laugh, and the sinister vibrations rocketed down to the Earth to scorch every surface._

"_I don't want this!" Regina cried, the cold steel still digging into her throat. She felt the heaving chest of the excited woman behind her, pressing harder into her back._

"_No one wants to pay for their transgressions in the end, Regina."_

_Watery brown eyes looked back up to what should have been the face of the man before her. She began to scream as he carved into her neck with the scalpel, fresh blood spraying from her jugular to paint his unidentifiable features a bright scarlet. The last thing she saw was her own blood seeping down her chest, before her eyes rolled in their sockets and she began to sink towards the ground._

"_But they always do," came the resounding voice._

Regina awoke with a start, throwing her body forward to a sitting position as the remnants of the terrifying dream seeped slowly towards the recesses of her mind like the waning tide. Her chest rose and fell dramatically as her lungs worked overtime in frantic search of the cold oxygen blanketing the room. Dark hair clung in sporadic patterns over her neck and face, saturated in the sweat that still trickled down her back and thighs. Her bed sheets were drenched, and her nightgown stuck to her skin from the moisture that had accumulated.

She turned her head to find the alarm clock on her bedside table.

_3:47am_

The offensive red lighting glared as if mocking her. She rolled her eyes and looked down at her hands where they were clenched around her black satin comforter. The white strain of her knuckles contrasted beautifully with the darkness of her sheets.

Her left hand flew to her throat to discern if it was indeed still intact, and she brought her right hand up to run through her damp hair, moving it out of her eyes and off her heated cheeks. She could still see flashes of the dream evaporating into the murky haze of her sleep addled brain.

As her breathing steadied and slowed, she realized she was absolutely freezing from being so wet, and that she would have to change out of her gown before returning to bed. The only other light in her room came from the street lamps outside her house, and shone in through the translucent ivory curtains over the double French doors leading to the wide 2nd story balcony. She decided not to turn on the lamp at her bedside table, but instead slipped from her soaked sheets and wandered into her walk in closet once more, having become very familiar with the near weekly trek she'd made in the dead of night for years now. Ambien didn't work – she would fight it for an hour after she took it and end up sending strange text messages to colleagues and friends, or she would end up finding herself in odd places, like the one time she woke up in the kitchen with the refrigerator door open, her head leaned up against the bottom shelf. There had been a pot sitting on the stove, and upon further investigation, she found a sliced up apple scattering the bottom. The idea of using a knife when she was asleep scared her, so from that day forth she no longer took to the use of sleeping aids to keep her mind from its grim musings.

Once inside her closet, she shucked the nightgown off her body and rummaged through her drawers, hands landing on a navy silk pajama set. She slid the pants over her shaking legs and then buttoned the matching shirt over her thin torso. She sighed and turned, padding back over the plush carpet to reach her bed once more. Crawling under the covers, she moved to the left side of the bed that had not been affected by her nightmare induced sweating, and closed her eyes, just barely aware of the short time she had left to snooze before her alarm clock would go off.

She pressed long fingers to each temple and began a steady breathing pattern – in through her nose, out through her mouth. She repeated the slow intake and output of air, filling her lungs to the brim and controlling each puff of air as it escaped her aching lungs. After several moments, she felt her body relax, and she was able to sink back into the realm of calmness. She would examine her nightmare later after she had woken officially. For now, she should really try and sleep, especially since she had a new patient to check on in the morning, and had promised Henry she would drop him off at school.

She pulled the covers around her head, leaving only her nose visible to the dark room, and silently sank into oblivion once more.


	3. Chapter 3

So the last chapter was rather short, but I felt like it would have been too long had I included it with this chapter. I guess I could skip all the character building, though – but really, tell me what YOU want. I'm apt to make this story a 200K word slow burn but if that's not what you guys want, PLEASE let me know! I can write anything and any way you want, I just need to know what that is. Just a forewarning, this story is going to get very, very dark - it is literally going to shred itself apart before it ever begins to heal. I hope you all are down for the ride. LOVE YOU, my Regals and Oncers! As always, I appreciate your reviews and follows/favorites. You guys are the best.

song: **HELLO** – _Evanescence _

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><p>The sharp noise that blared five feet away from her head had her rolling her eyes in their sockets before she had even opened them.<p>

_Great._

One eye slid open, followed slowly by the other. A delicate hand snaked out from beneath the covers, blindly stabbing at the "Snooze" button on the offending alarm clock. A long, annoyed sighed puffed from her lips before she collected herself and rolled out of the bed. The violent shiver that ran down the length of her body as the cold air of her room settled over her skin almost had her give into the urge to lye back down to once again encase herself in the warm and cozy little nest of her sheets and comforter, but she had already hit the snooze button five times that morning and was now bordering on being late to take Henry to school. That damn exhausting dream had left her tired and drained.

The sudden realization at the length in which she had overslept had her leaping out of bed as if she had been badly burned. As her feet hit the floor, she darted into her bathroom and began flitting about, fixing her hair and lightly applying her makeup. After she deemed her appearance appropriate, she ran to her closet and fished out yet another black dress. Black stockings and black heels followed suit. She took one last look in her bathroom mirror before she bolted down the stairs, rounding the corner into the kitchen where she had expected to find Henry eating breakfast. To her dismay, the room was unfortunately empty. She turned her head and then walked to her fridge with the intent of pouring herself a glass of orange juice, but her hand stopped just shy of the door as she noticed a note scribbled onto the magnetized white board hanging just below a family picture taken several Christmases ago. Her heart sank dramatically as her eyes scanned the words scrawled on the board.

"_Mom – caught a ride to school with a friend. Granny will drop me off tonight."_

His notes were always so short and void of emotion. Gone were the days when he would run into her open arms and hug her so tight she thought her heart might burst from all the love he held for his mother. He had been angry with her for a long time.

She closed her eyes and sniffed back the tiny tears that threatened to roll down her cheeks. She shook her dark head and yanked open the refrigerator door, hand immediately landing on the orange juice. In order for her to have missed Henry that morning, he would have already had to have made plans with his "friend" the night before, and the fact that she hadn't heard the door open or close meant that he had probably left before sunrise.

He had deliberately avoided her, and she knew it. The inner pain stung like a physical slap to the face.

After making quick work of her small breakfast and throwing all her dishes into the dishwasher, she gathered her things and exited her house, locking the door behind her.

_And then one day turns into another, _she thought to herself as she walked to her car, _and it just keeps going like that._

And that was the truth in the end, she realized. Every day was the same. Sure, small details varied here and there, but really, this had become her life. Wake up early, go to work, come home, catch short glimpses of a son that had once adored her and now despised her, crawl into bed, suffer near sleep deprivation at the hand of unyielding nightmares, wake up in a panic, cry herself back to sleep, repeat.

"There has got to be more to life than this," she said to herself as she barreled down the road in her Mercedes.

Just what that "more" was, she really wasn't sure of. She thought she had known, once, when times were simpler and much easier - when times were happier. Now she wasn't sure if she would ever know what joy was again. And more importantly, even if she did know, how was she ever supposed to get it? Try as she might, she was losing her will to win the fight. She knew it was only a matter of time before she threw the towel in for the final count, and that scared her.

The drive to work passed quickly as her thoughts ran rampant, and she found herself at her destination before she knew it, the drive into the city only a blur of mechanical actions and muscle memory which lead her to the Hospital. She pulled her car into her designated spot in the employee parking garage, sighing as she shut off her engine. She really didn't want to go in the building, but so many people relied too heavily on her impressive skill as a Cardiologist for her to convince herself to turn back around and call in sick to work.

She made her way down the long and familiar hallway, bringing herself to a halt in front of the ever bustling lobby elevator. She leaned towards the button, finger pressing the lighted orb proclaiming "Up". As she stepped forward through the sliding doors, a handsome, sandy haired man in navy blue scrubs jumped into the elevator beside her.

"Good morning, Dr. Mills," he smiled brightly, nodding in her direction. She glared at him for a moment before turning to face the closing doors and punched the desired floor's button. As it lit up, she turned back to him and frowned.

"Morning? Well, that's apparent. Good? I don't know about that."

He laughed and pressed the button to his own floor.

"Come on, Regina. Hey, how did you sleep last night?"

She only glared harder, and then rolled her eyes.

"Well, seeing as you're quite the astute observer, how do you think I slept, Mr. Nolan?"

David sighed, and leaned against the back wall of the elevator. His light-hearted and joking manner morphed into one that painted sorrow and hurt.

"Still having nightmares?" His face was truly concerned, and Regina momentarily felt bad for snapping at her friend so often. She then visibly shook as she re-envisioned the previous night's dream, the tremor running the length of her body.

"They just never end," she confessed, her voice growing softer.

David crossed his arms as he studied her face. Lately, she looked tired all the time. Still stunning, of course, but the lines of worry had begun etching themselves onto her face, and she looked far older than the beautiful girl who had played hostess to countless dinner parties he and his wife had attended only a few years before.

"What was it about this time?"

She rolled her eyes and then glanced around for intrusive ears, even though they were the only two people in the elevator.

"I was standing at the Gates of Hell."

The handsome charge nurse nodded and let out a low whistle.

"All fire and brimstone, the burning river of death and all that?"

The man was teasing her in an attempt to ease her mind, but he was still pleasantly surprised when the brunette's face took on an amused twist, and she looked back at him with something resembling a grin.

"No, actually. It was just the outside of an old, run down nightclub."

She actually blushed a little at the absurdity of the idea, now that she had put it out there in the light of day.

David grinned. "The Devil runs a nightclub?"

"I guess so," she laughed, surprised at herself.

"Well, that doesn't sound too scary," David replied as the elevator came to a halt. He looked back to his friend to see her eyes had glassed over, and that she held that faraway look that told him she was once again back inside her own mind, clearly unable to shake whatever thoughts were swirling around, tormenting her every waking and sleeping moment.

"Right," she replied, her throat void of emotion, "Well, I hope you have a wonderful day, Mr. Nolan."

Before he could respond, she had stepped off the elevator and he could do nothing but watch her retreating form as it glided down the hallway. He shook his head as the doors closed once more, metaphorically separating them as much as physically. His heart hurt for his old friend, but he knew she was beyond letting anybody in anymore. He didn't blame her, either. After everything she had been through, he was surprised she had hung on this long. The idea that she might not hang on forever frightened him, and the fact that he had no clue how to help her left him with an overwhelming sense of discomfort. He wondered if saving his dear friend was even an option anymore. After all, white knights existed only in fairy tales, but the demons of the real world were very prominent in Regina's life. Was he going to lose her, too?

He shook his head and said a silent prayer before straightening his back and pushing his emotions to the side. He was a charge nurse at this hospital, and too many other people's lives relied on his ability to focus on his work and not get caught up in his own personal turmoil. Regina would just have to make it through the day by herself.

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><p><em>3:30pm<em>, she noticed as she looked down at her silver Michael Kors watch. She figured she should take a lunch break soon, now that she finally had a moment to breathe. So far that day she had completed a mountain of paper work, visited most of her existing patients and admitted two new ones, played nice with several of her colleagues, and managed to avoid any more overbearing personal questions from David Nolan. She began gathering a few of the papers from in front of the computer she had been using at the 9th Floor Nurse's Station and was just tensing her body to stand from her seat, when she suddenly heard an all too familiar and pompous laugh from down the hall way. The irritating noise immediately sent a shiver down her spine.

_Fucking brilliant,_ she thought angrily to herself. He was the last person on Earth she wanted to converse with, and as his voice only grew in volume, she realized he was walking towards the Nurse's Station and that there was going to be no way to avoid seeing him. She lay all her paper work back down and clicked on the "Doctor's Contact List" on the computer. She began scrolling through the list, acting as if she were trying to find another doctor's pager number. Her back was to the front of the Nurse's Station, and she hoped if she seemed to be busy and unaware of his presence, then perhaps he wouldn't even approach her. She half pleaded with any listening deity that he would become too engrossed in showing off and bragging to the poor nurses flipping through their charts and computer files that he wouldn't even notice her. Then again she had never been very lucky when it came to Dr. Whale. He knew exactly how to push her buttons, and always seemed to creep up on her when she very least expected it.

She straightened her back when she felt his eyes bore into her skull. He had suddenly stopped speaking midsentence, indicating that he had spotted her, and was probably just as surprised to see her there, as well. The two nurses that had been sitting near her stood up and walked away, not wanting to be caught in the crossfire if a situation should arise. She braced herself for the impending show down.

"Well, well, well," the arrogant man drawled, coming close and slapping his hand on the back of her seat, "If it isn't the famous Dr. Mills."

She turned her head slowly. Narrowed, dangerous eyes viciously raked themselves down his frame, making it known that his presence disgusted her. She then looked back up to him and plastered the most haughty, fake smile she could manage over her full lips.

"Whale," she sneered, showing her teeth.

He laughed and took a step back.

"Whoa, hey, everybody, she's got fangs," he goaded and laughed at his own joke. No one else even cracked a smile. They generally liked Dr. Mills. Even though she was usually clipped and brief, she was still just and fair, which was something the nurses could respect. Dr. Whale was the person most staff members generally tried to avoid for fear of being hit on, or worse.

_Fangs that I'd like to rip your jugular out with,_ the brunette thought, rising to her full height and staring down the self-proclaimed 'bane of her existence'.

"As amused as I am by your fairly dim wit, I must say that I really don't have the time to sit here and listen to your pointless banter. Now, unless you have something worth my while to discus, which I quite frankly don't see as possible, I really do wish you would get the Hell out of my way."

A young tech gasped and dropped her pen before utter silence befell the entire Nurse's Station. Whale looked around nervously, clearly embarrassed about being put in his place. He laughed nervously then cleared his throat.

"Oh come on, Dr. Mills. I was only joking."

The look of pure disdain did not waver from her face, and he dropped his eyes in frustration.

"Actually, I did need to discuss a matter with you."

Regina's lip quivered, clearly containing her utter repulsion for the man, but she raised her eyebrow quizzically all the same.

"It's - there's a woman who I've been meaning to ask you about. I wanted to put in a consultation on her, but I wasn't able to get around to it."

Regina snorted, not in the least bit surprised.

"Of course not, Whale. You're just so willing to take your time with _everything,_ aren't you?"

Their eyes locked in a silent war. One of the nurses took a deep breath and held it, while two techs went scrambling for safer territory. They'd heard stories of the infamous fights between Dr. Mills and Dr. Whale, and they were not too keen on being caught in the middle of one.

"Regina, not now," Whale stammered out, taking a step back.

"Don't. Don't you dare call me Regina. It's Dr. Mills to you, and if you want to put in this consultation then you had better do it, otherwise I am going to take lunch." Her eyes flashed and she stepped into him, forcing him back yet another step.

"Alright, alright, Dr. Mills." He threw up his hands in defeat. "She's a Jane Doe, fairly young. We don't know much about her. Perhaps if you would accompany me down to MICU, we can discuss her case further."

Regina's breath hitched, but for an entirely different reason this time. The patient Dr. Whale was referring to was a young Jane Doe? The one in MICU she had helped revive the evening before? She hadn't thought much about the woman today, other than early in the morning when she had been readying herself for work, but now that she was being brought up, the doctor was suddenly very interested to know how the woman was doing. She found herself much more apt to comply with Whale, now that she knew what patient he was referring to.

"Alright," she relented. "You can fill me in on our way to MI." She held her hand out, gesturing to the Dr. before her to lead the way. She couldn't determine why small, little tingles ran up and down her arms as she thought about the blonde, but she knew she was excited at the prospect of seeing her again.

That small excitement still didn't keep her from shooting metaphorical daggers into the back of Whale's skull as she followed him to the elevator, though.

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><p>When the two doctors stepped off the elevator onto the floor of the Medical Intensive Care Unit, Regina had been given a short, very brief history of the Jane Doe. She learned that the woman had been found on the side of a highway in Maine, and had been med-flighted to Bellevue Medical two weeks before. She had been completely unconscious when a couple had found her lying in a bank of snow near the tree line leading into the forest. She almost hadn't been found at all, except for the fact that she had been wearing a bright red leather jacket that caught the attention of the passersby. She was declared in an intense state of hypothermia by the on-site EMT.<p>

Regina took all the information in stride. Really, there wasn't much to go on, but she figured Whale hadn't read the woman's chart in depth, either. His answers to her questions were vague other than the information she had already learned, and her mind was bubbling with impatience and curiosity. She figured she would look into the woman's chart later, after he left.

They arrived at the Nurse's Station of the MICU, Whale still "regaling" Regina with tales of his success in saving the Jane Doe. The brunette had to bite her tongue several times to keep from spitting out incredulous insults his way, but she had to vocally remind him several times that it had been the _nurses_ and the EMTs who had saved the blonde's life, not him. They stopped at the front desk of the Unit to request the patient's chart. The stunning red head from the previous week was once again sitting behind the secretary desk. She glanced up when she noticed the two doctors. She pulled the black rimmed glasses down off her nose and gave Whale a tight lipped, barely noticeable smile.

"Dr. Whale, Dr. Mills. How can I help you?" Her distinct British accent had the male doctor swooning, but she turned instead to the brunette woman, her mouth curving up to a beautiful grin.

Regina returned the smile, and out of the corner of her eye she saw Whale stomp his foot impatiently beside her. He was obviously miffed that the red head seemed happier to see Regina than him, but he held his tongue and said nothing.

"Hi, yes, Zelena. Dr. Whale is just transferring one of your patients to me."

Beside her Dr. Whale turned and glared.

"Excuse me, Dr. Mills, but I'm not transferring her to you. You don't even take patients on, anymore. I'm just consulting you as a Cardiologist."

The brunette's eyes widened for a moment, before she turned to face the man next to her.

"And what makes you think I'm not taking on patients anymore, Dr. Whale?"

"Since you became strictly a cardiologist! You're just a specialist now, and you haven't taken on any patients as an Attending Physician, since, well, since…" He began to stutter and trailed off as he met the cold, hard glare on the brunette's face. He began to falter as something akin to rage brewed slowly beneath the surface of her violent eyes.

"I swear on everything that is holy in this world, if you mention to me what I think you're about to mention, I will destroy you and everything you hold dear. Do you understand me, Victor?"

The man shrank visibly under the electric charge in the dark, boiling black of her eyes. She stepped closer into his proximity, one hand on her hip and an accusatory finger in his face.

"Make no mistake, _Doctor_, I am _still_ a Hospitalist in this establishment, and I retain all rights to fully care for any patient that I am offered. I have refused many for several long years, as you well know, to continue a specialist career in cardiology, but I'm thinking it's about high time I take on a new patient work load. What do you think, Zelena?"

She turned to the secretary who had been watching with rapt attention. The red head merely smirked and nodded.

"Oh, yes, Dr. Mills, I would have to agree. I know a certain Jane Doe that would love better care than is being provided to her, since her current Doctor seems to be all too enraptured with his many other patients. You know, the ones who can provide proof of insurance, and all."

She pointedly stared at Dr. Whale, challenging him to disagree that he had not taken good care of the blonde Jane Doe. Instead, his hands balled into fists at his sides, and he huffed indignantly.

"Well, do whatever you see fit, _Regina_, but even you can't save a lost soul that's all but dead already." He turned on his heels and began stomping out of the ICU. He stopped at the exit door and called over his shoulder as he swiped his badge, "I'll begin the transfer paperwork immediately. Good luck with that one."

As he turned to leave, the brunette couldn't help but call after him, "I'm a far more skilled practitioner than you, Whale. Luck is the _last_ think I need."

The fleeting man merely threw up his middle finger over his shoulder and continued walking.

Regina rolled her eyes and slowly turned back to the redhead.

"I hate that bastard, Z." She could hardly contain the snarl on her lips. She only softened slightly when the hand of the red head lay gently over hers on the counter.

"I know you do, G. And I do, too. But let's not worry about his pompous ass for once, alright? Let's just get you situated and updated on your _new_ patient, shall we?"

She smiled, and Regina couldn't help but turn her hand over and squeeze the one clutching hers.

"Alright. Let's do it, sis."

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><p>An hour later, Regina was still mulling over the chart before her. She had come to learn a great deal more about the blonde in Bed 5, but there were still so many missing links, she was nearly dumbfounded. Apparently no one had a clue as to who she was, and she realized all too quickly that no one who had handled her case in the last two weeks had really tried very hard to find out, either. In a quick attempt at playing "<em>Regina Mills: Private Investigator"<em> with google search on her phone, she found one small, quite detail-less article about the woman being found on the side of the road. The only photo was of the location in Maine where she had been discovered, and there was only a brief description of the woman's physical appearance. The more and more she dug through the file, the more and more she realized Dr. Whale hadn't even so much as tried to log the woman's case, or find out where any friends or family might be located.

She sighed and turned the last page in the woman's chart before slamming her fist down on the binder. The red head behind her turned her green eyes to her sister and sighed.

"Have you even eaten yet today, Regina?"

The brunette looked up with guilty eyes, and then quickly focused on the floor.

"Well, yes."

Zelena rolled her eyes and stood, walking the three strides to her sister.

"Breakfast before you got here doesn't count."

Regina opened her mouth, but before she could speak, the red head was already cutting her off again with an outward facing palm.

"And neither does coffee in the Doctor's Lounge, or that pathetic cup of green tea you've undoubtedly been toting around all day."

The brunette fell silent, her eyes roaming over to land on the aforementioned Styrofoam cup of tea.

"Ok, no. I haven't eaten," she exclaimed, throwing her hands up in the air. "Are you happy?"

The redhead tisked and shook her head.

"Happy that you admitted it, but quite displeased to hear you've starved yourself yet again. I'm going to go downstairs to the food court, and I'm picking up a chicken salad for you from the Chef's Station. You're going to visit that patient in Bed 5, and when I get back, you're going to eat your meal. Do you understand me, Regina Maria Mills?"

The brunette rolled her eyes and stood, hugging her sister tightly, even though the red head kept her arms crossed in defiance.

"Yes, your Wickedness, I will eat the damn salad you bring back."

The red head scoffed.

"Good, you'd better. I wouldn't want to have to turn you into one of my flying monkeys, or anything."

They both laughed at the inside joke, dating back to when they were young and spent the summers at Zelena's father's house in England – they had watched 'The Wizard of Oz' so many times that the VHS had worn out.

The brunette watched her sister as she wandered towards the elevators before she turned toward the Nurse sitting opposite of her.

"You're Nova, right?"

The petite nurse in bright pink scrubs jumped and squeaked as she heard her name.

"Oh, yes, that's me. I'm Nova. Nurse Nova," she giggled nervously. She might have been slightly afraid of Dr. Mills, as most people in the hospital were, but she was prone to bouts of word vomit, anyway. "But you can call me just Nova. Or not 'Just Nova', but you know what I mean…"

She stopped mid-sentence, sensing herself rambling as she took in the wide-eyed bewilderment of the famous Regina Mills.

"Uh, right, well anyway. What can I help you with, Dr. Mills?"

Regina grimaced slightly. The over excited nervousness of the nurse before her had her clenching her jaw.

"Well, _Nova_, I've just taken on the Jane Doe in Bed 5. I'll be her Attending from here on out. I am ready to visit her and asses her current condition, if you wouldn't mind accompanying me, since it states here in the logs that you've been her Day Shift Nurse several times throughout the past two weeks."

The over ecstatic nurse jumped up and grabbed her clip board from her seat, then directed Dr. Mills to follow her. Regina picked up the patient's chart and trailed after her. The rooms were much larger in MICU than on regular floors, but there were only ten beds since it was a highly critical floor. This meant that all the rooms were very close to the desk, and it took Regina only about seven strides before she stood at the door of Bed 5. She allowed the silly nurse to babble on and on about the patient, and found that she didn't mind hearing the endless chatter about the blonde.

Regina stood at the door for a moment, watching the steady rise and fall of the woman's chest. She was still intubated, and therefor had her hands tied down to the sides of the bed. The brunette motioned to the restraints.

"Has she moved around at all? Attempted to rip out her tube?"

The taller brunette shook her head and sat down on the chair next to the bed.

"She hasn't moved at all since she's been here, sadly. She is truly in a coma, medically induced or not."

Regina nodded and jotted a few things down on a paper in the woman's chart.

"We will need to schedule a meeting with her pulmonologist. I'd like to talk to them about a time line for removing the breathing tube. Also, I see here in her chart that she's prone to bouts of Atrial Fibrillation. Has that been an ongoing occurrence since she's arrived?"

The nurse nodded. "Actually it had gotten better before she was sent to MPCU. However, she did come in showing extreme signs of A-Fib. You know, she was hypothermic when she was found."

Regina flipped a few papers, coming back to the notes talking about the patent's physical state upon admission. "Nova, I'll need you to contact the EMTs in Maine who first treated her. I need a more thorough documentation of how she was found, and what state she was in when they got there. Can you do all this for me?"

The brunette smiled, and stood up. "I'll get on that now. I think Zelena is back from her break, anyway, so she and I will start working to gather the most information we can."

She walked past the prettier brunette, and back to the Nurse's Station. Regina looked over her shoulder at her sister who was glaring at her, holding up a to-go salad. She rolled her eyes at the redhead and assured her she would eat the moment she had completed her assessment.

Walking further into the room, Regina sat the chart down on the bedside table. She looked all around the room, taking in the steady whirl of machines, the occasional odd click from the IV pump as it forced liquid into blue veins, and the steady in and out of the breathing machine. The pleth line on the heart monitor was uneven, signaling that the blonde's heart was beating at odd intervals. It would pump a few times, pause, steadily beat, and then flutter. Regina walked forward and placed her hand on the blonde's arm, pressing for any signs of edema. When she discovered none, she inserted the ear tips of her stethoscope and placed the diaphragm of the chest piece over her lungs. She listened for several long moments, moving the stethoscope as she searched for any signs of weakness or fluid. She then placed it over the heart of the woman, listening carefully.

After she stood, she bent and picked up the chart, jotting down a few notes.

_Patient shows signs of diminished lung capacity with faint rattling._

She snapped the chart closed and turned to leave as her belly rumbled in hunger, but something stopped her. Turning back to the mysterious woman on the bed, she couldn't help but wonder about her.

_What happened to you?_

She shook her head and strode quickly out of the room. Maybe it was her ravenous belly that had her mind befuddled, but yet, she couldn't quite shake the feeling that something terrible had happened to the Jane Doe, and she suddenly was very intent upon finding out exactly what. She smiled gratefully at her sister when she accepted her salad, then followed her into the break room.

It was 5:30pm, she noted. Almost time to go home.

_Home to what?_

* * *

><p>The brunette walked to her car, grateful that she had actually left the hospital on time for once. She slid into the leather seat of the driver's side, tossing her purse to the passenger seat. Fishing her phone out of her pocket, she sent a quick text to her son, letting him know she was on her way to pick him up from the diner.<p>

**Hi sweetheart, I am leaving work now. On my way to the diner to pick you up. **

She locked her phone, then unlocked it again, typing out a quick:

**I love you.**

She sighed and put the phone back in her pocket, then started the Mercedes and pulled out of the lot. As she drove, she mulled over different aspects from her day. She was scheduled to perform surgery in the morning on an elderly patient, and she would spend the rest of the night mentally preparing herself for the task at hand. Regina Mills was no stranger to the daunting task of open heart surgery, but after a tragic incident with one of her patients two years ago, she was somewhat reluctant every time she had to pick up the knife. The pay for performing such operations was too good to deny though, so she inevitably shoved down her silent apprehension every time she walked into the O.R.

A slight vibrating on her hip bone coaxed her from her thoughts. She pulled her phone out of her pocket once more, and unlocked it to find a message from her son.

**Alright.**

Her heart sank a little, but she didn't know what more she was expecting. Henry had been distant and cold for quite a while now. She set her phone in her lap as she turned north on 8th Avenue. Granny's Diner was between 53rd and 54th streets, so she had several more blocks to drive. As she passed 42nd street, her phone vibrated again. When she looked down, the phone was still open on her message board with Henry.

**Love you, too.**

And that almost brought tears to her eyes. She scrunched up her nose, fighting off the overwhelming emotion in her chest. She wished daily for _something_ from him, no matter how small. She couldn't remember the last time he had told her he loved her back. She shook her head, reminding herself to pay attention to traffic. Killing herself in a car accident on the way to pick up her son was definitely _not_ how she envisioned ending her life.

_I would much rather slit my wrists than die in a car crash_.

And that caused her mind to wander, again. It made her think of the blonde Jane Doe at the hospital. What was a woman doing all alone, lying unconscious in a snow bank on the side of the highway? To her observations, the woman was very physically fit, or at least she had been at one time, before landing herself in a coma. Her arms were still very toned, though Regina had noted that after two weeks of lying in a hospital bed, she was probably a little thinner than she had been, not to mention her six pack had been cut open to place a feeding tube at some point. At least, Regina assumed the woman had a six pack. She hadn't made a complete medical assessment of the woman, but would definitely do so once the blonde was officially in her care.

Then she mentally slapped herself. What was she doing, taking on a patient? She hadn't fully cared for someone since, well since…

She didn't want to go there. Not right now. Not when that was a major reason the wedge had been driven between her and her son in the first place.

Well, it wasn't like she was going to become seriously attached to this woman, anyway. Not that she didn't care deeply for her patients (from simple cardiac evaluations all the way to full blown surgical victims), but she surmised that she wouldn't have to connect with the woman on a personal level since she was not only heavily drug induced, but was also currently sustaining a natural coma all on her own. If she were to ever wake from the coma, she would likely be transferring hospitals to be closer to family, anyway.

And yet, she had spent the last ten blocks thinking of nothing but the blonde, and here she was, already at Granny's. Her car coasted up to the curb and she saw her son gather his belongings as he watched her park. She smiled at Granny who was waving at her from one of the large diner windows. She watched as her son hugged the woman and grinned up her, obviously the grandmother he never had. She put a bag in his hands and sent him on his way, nodding to Regina one last time before walking over to a table of four.

Regina's heart picked up a nervous pace as her son exited the diner. He opened up the car door and slid in, throwing his back pack on the floor. He didn't look at her, nor did he speak, but he buckled himself in and reached over to adjust the air-conditioning.

"Hi dear, how was school today?" The brunette began and smiled at him, silently praying that he would return it. Henry shifted in his seat and turned to face her.

"It was good."

He silently regarded her for a moment, and then looked back out his window, attempting to count the whirl of tall buildings as they drove by.

"That's great, sweetheart. I'm glad to hear. How are things going at the diner?"

He sighed. "They're good."

Regina kept her sight on the road as she drove north, but inwardly rolled her eyes. She was surprised when she heard the apprehensive breath as he readied himself to speak again.

"Granny let me wash the dishes and gave me fifty bucks for it."

_Mental note, ask Granny why she's letting my son wash dishes in exchange for money when he already has a hefty allowance._

"Oh she did, did she?"

Henry turned and noticed the mildly irritated look on her face.

"Don't be mad, mom. She just thought if she tried to bribe me then I wouldn't know she just needed help, but I saw she was understaffed and thought why not?"

Regina was struck with sudden pride over her son. He was intuitive to know that Granny wouldn't admit to needing help, and decided to let her think she had tricked him into helping. He had always surprised her with his capacity for kindness, even though lately he didn't always direct it towards her, specifically.

"Well that was very nice of you, Henry."

They shared a small smile. She decided to push her luck, since her son was actually talking to her in complete sentences for once.

"Are you hungry? I can make dinner when -"

"No I'm good. I ate at the diner. Like usual." He cut her off quick, not able to hold back the bite in his last remark.

The rest of the car ride lasted in silence, each lost in their thoughts. When they pulled into the drive way, Henry jumped out, grabbing his back pack.

"Granny gave me this to give to you. She knew you wouldn't want to cook when you got home."

He left the bag on the passenger seat, and raced up to the porch where he pulled out his own key and unlocked the door, disappearing inside without waiting on his mother. Regina quieted the Mercedes' engine and picked up the take out bag off the passenger seat and carried it inside. Really, she _was_ exhausted, but Henry was wrong. She would always, _always _find the energy to cook for him, but he never seemed to want that anymore. She had reduced her diet to salads and food from Granny's, because she couldn't find it in her to prepare a meal for just herself.

She sat alone at her kitchen table, eating the turkey burger Granny had packed for her while listening to the sounds of Henry's X-Box floating downstairs from his room. After finishing up a few chores, she turned off all the lights and walked up her stair case, passing by Henry's room on the way to hers. She stopped outside the door and listened. There was only a faint murmuring of the TV. She knocked on the door, but didn't receive a reply.

"Goodnight, Henry," she called, turning to make her way to her own bedroom. After two steps she heard the door wrench open, and turned back around to find Henry poking his head out.

"Goodnight, Mom."

They both smiled at each other, and then Henry disappeared just as quickly as he had appeared.

As Regina wound down and finished her nightly routines, her thoughts drifted once more to the Jane Doe waiting for her at the hospital. She crawled under her sheets and turned off her bedside lamp, her mind still filtering through all the information she had learned about the blonde that day. She hoped Nova would be able to contact some people in the morning and find out more information on the woman, but in the meantime, she let her mind wander.

That night she dreamt of cold despair, wandering, desperately lost in an arctic wasteland while being chased by white wolves and then imprisoned by an evil snow monster.

Make that the _third _night in a row she woke up freezing and soaked in her own sweat.


	4. Chapter 4

All your comments on this story are really lifting my spirits. You guys are the best. Sadly, it has taken me forever to get this chapter to you because my computer stopped working again. I was able to rescue some of my writing, but I'm going to have to get a new computer. Therefore, this chapter might be shorter than you're used to seeing from me. I just really wanted to get something posted! Things are really going to start moving and shaking here soon, so I hope you enjoy the calm before the storm. Information about Henry and Regina's pasts will begin to reveal itself, and Regina finds herself becoming more and more attached to her blonde Jane Doe. This story has been very Regina-centric so far, but we will start hearing Emma's story very soon. We're going to talk a little bit about Daniel, but make NO MISTAKE - this is SwanQueen. Enjoy, my Regals and Oncers!

song: **Drowned World/Substitute For Love** – _Madonna_

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><p>When Regina arrived to work the next morning, she made a bee-line for the Doctor's Lounge where she immediately poured herself another cup of coffee. It was only 6am, but she was already on her second cup of the day. From her jade green leather Marc Jacobs purse, she pulled out a packet of Truvia Sweetener and added it to the cup, opting for a slightly sweeter approach to the morning liquid than her usual. Even though she had gone to bed early in preparation for this morning's surgery she was still sleepy, and yearned for the caffeine in her coffee to take effect.<p>

She had tossed and turned the entire night before, another one of her excruciating nightmares waking her with a start at around 2am. It took her a moment of looking frantically around her bedroom to realize she wasn't _actually_ trapped in a snow blizzard in the middle of nowhere. When she had finally settled down, she found that she was completely incapable of falling back to sleep, and instead sat in her bed mulling over various subjects. She first thought of Henry. He had experienced so much in his short life, and it left him mature in ways far beyond his ten (almost eleven) years. Regina was no stranger to having to grow up fast, and it pained her that no matter how hard she had tried, she was unable to provide the type of life for her son that she had always envisioned for herself when she was growing up.

She thought of her sister. Even though Zelena was several years older than her, they had always shared a special bond. The red head was the only other person in this world who knew the burden of having a mother like Cora Mills. When Zelena's father uprooted the girl and moved her to his London home at age five, she considered herself lucky. The same couldn't be said for Regina whose father never divorced Cora. The brunette always found solace in spending her summers with Zelena in London, but they always unfortunately ended, and it never failed that she would find herself back in the States every Fall, the cold of winter accurately depicting the presence of Cora back in her life. When she reached high school, Regina's mother stopped letting her visit Zelena in London entirely, and she was forced into taking extra schooling in place of participating in fun summer activities that all her friends enjoyed. She never got to play sports or run around with boys, but she supposed studying ballet and learning to play the piano wasn't all that bad. She just wished she could have learned the arts without having been under such an awfully cruel eye as Cora Mills.

She thought of her life when she had finally been able to escape her mother's claws. At age 18, she had run off to London to see her sister. One day, she and Zelena partook in an impromptu fox hunt that started off like any other day, but quickly proved itself to be quite unique. While taking an extra slippery bank at a fast gallop, Regina's horse slipped and fell. As they tumbled down the steep bank, the old sweet horse twisted his body in an awkward position, trying desperately to avoid landing on his rider. Regina had been able to roll away from the big gelding when they reached the bottom of the bank, and she immediately picked herself up off the ground. The same couldn't be said for her horse who lay in shock for several moments, too dazed to even move. She was finally able to encourage the big bay to stand, but noticed he held his front left hoof off the ground. She then noticed a large gash on his coronet band, and though it wasn't life threatening, it definitely rendered him unfit to carry her any further that day. She imagined he was probably a little banged up elsewhere, and would undoubtedly be badly bruised if nothing else. After checking the horse out for any other injuries, she looked up to see the rest of the fox hunt party had left her behind.

Momentary panic set in at the realization she was alone. How was she supposed to get back to the stables several miles away with an injured horse that couldn't be ridden? They were standing in a rocky field in the middle of nowhere, only an old dirt road following the tree line to give any indication that there was a way out. She tried to lead the horse, but he was limping so much that she almost started crying herself at seeing him in such pain.

That was when she heard the thundering hooves behind her. She turned to see one of the men from the fox-hunting party crossing the field on his chestnut horse at a dead gallop. Her heart rate quickened as she realized he was heading straight toward her. She threw up her arms and began waving, in which he waved back. Relief flooded her system at being spotted. As he came closer and slowed to a trot, she noticed his kind eyes and his sweet smile, something she rarely experienced growing up in such a strict and volatile household. He stopped right in front of her and jumped off his red roan horse.

"Is everything alright?" The genuine concern in his voice stirred something deep inside Regina, and she could do little more than stare at the handsome young man.

"Did something happen to your horse?" he questioned, coming closer to take a look. Regina could still remember the little tingles she felt as he stepped into her personal space and pulled the reins from her hands, eliciting a shuddering breath from her lungs. That was the day she met Daniel.

That was the day her life changed.

Present day Regina quickly shook her head, rousing herself from her reflections. Instead of sinking further into the swirling blackness of her depression (as she usually did when she began to acknowledge the analytical side of her brain), she actually found that her intrigue over her newly acquired patient kept her distracted. Her mind wandered again, and landed on her current favorite subject to muse over, but now she was concerned – did she take on the patient because she felt she could use the distraction, or had she fought for the woman because she so greatly despised Dr. Whale and wanted to one up him in any way that she could? Or was it something else entirely that pulled her to help the blonde?

She found herself wondering what the blonde was feeling, if she was in fact feeling anything at all. She knew most coma patients reported remembering nothing at all when they woke up, while others recounted strange and awful dreams. She hoped her beautiful blonde wasn't experiencing any terrifying nightmares. That's right, she thought, that was _her_ blonde. Before she knew it, it was time to get ready for the day, and she realized she had spent at least forty five minutes thinking about nothing other than the Jane Doe lying in her hospital bed.

On her drive in to work, she noticed that she contemplated the answers to those questions instead of focusing on the dark and twisted thoughts that generally plagued her alone time. She also looked out her window on occasion, admiring the scenery of the city on her drive in. The pink streaked sky captured her attention, and she acknowledged the lazily little tendrils of light as they made their way up over the horizon to alert her of the oncoming sunrise. She was enraptured by the water to her left as she drove South, and found herself at work before she knew it. The drive had seemed much shorter than normal. Partly her reason for quick travel was that many people weren't yet out on the roads at 5:30am, but a part of her knew it was also because she seemed motivated to get to work in a way she hadn't felt for a very long time.

This particular morning, she wore her favorite Merrill Encore Breeze flats in the colour "Spicy Orange", and donned forest green scrubs with orange piping beneath her white doctor's lab coat in place of her usual dressy attire. Instead of her regular black stockings, she wore her TED compression hose to prevent her blood from pooling as she was bound to be standing for several hours in the operating room without much option for moving around. When performing open heart surgeries, she preferred to do them in the mornings, followed by a few quick appearances in some of her more pressing patient's rooms, and then leave the hospital early.

As she sipped her coffee in the Doctor's Lounge, she opened a manila file folder with several papers in it regarding her patient's surgery. The woman was older, and suffering from End Stage Heart Failure. Regina had operated on the women twice before, but the woman was elderly and her heart was not strong. She reviewed her previous documentation and copies of the patient's current files. She had read them inside and out, forward and backward, but she liked to be thorough, and when performing a TAH (Total Artificial Heart), she really liked to make sure she knew what she was in for. The surgery consisted of basically taking the woman's living, beating heart out of her chest and replacing it with artificial pumps. She highly doubted the woman was going to receive a heart transplant which she desperately needed, so Regina wanted to make sure this AH would function properly for many years to come. She was confident in her abilities with a knife, but the psychological aspect of what her patient was going through usually held Regina's concern. Nobody liked going under the knife, even if the surgery yielded wonderful results once healed.

Suddenly her hip vibrated, shaking her out of her studies. She glanced around confused for a moment, then remembered her cell phone was in her pocket. Her pretty lips melted into a slow frown as she noticed a text from her son.

**Mom – where are u? Got to leave for school.**

Thinking back over the previous night, she realized she hadn't had a moment to remind Henry of her surgery that morning.

_Of course, the one day he actually wants me to take him to school…_

Her frown deepened as she debated what to respond. After staring at her phone for a moment, her fingers hesitant, she typed out a message. She chewed her lip in frustration, but pressed "send", anyway.

**I have that surgery this morning, Henry. Mary Margaret should be at the house by** **7:30.**

She stared at her phone for a moment longer, then placed it on the table in front of her while she picked up another page discussing her patient's history. After a moment of careful scrutiny, her phone roared to life again, vibrating so hard that it moved several inches across the table. She nearly jumped out of her skin at the sudden commotion, but grabbed her phone before it teetered too close to the edge.

**Did u also forget I have baseball practice at 4:30?**

She sighed heavily.

**No,** **I** **didn't** **forget** **that.** ** I'll** **be** **able** **to** **pick** **you** **up** **from** **school** **and** **bring** **you** **to** **practice** **since** **I** **get** **to** **leave** **work** **early** **today.**

She pressed send, and pocketed her phone once more as she gathered her belongings and shook her head. She sometimes wished she hadn't allowed her mother to push her into becoming a doctor, but she had spent a lot of her adolescent and young adult life trying to please the cold, domineering woman. In the end, it had just lead to more heart ache. But that was something to file away for later contemplation – right now she had a surgery to prepare for.

She strolled out of the Doctor's Lounge and headed up to MICU where she knew Mary Margaret was just finishing her last bit of charting from her night shift. She rounded the corner into the ICU and waved at the pixie-cut brunette staring at her computer. The woman smiled warmly and motioned for Regina to walk closer.

"How was my Jane Doe last night?"

Mary Margaret smiled and handed Regina a paper chart to look through.

"She was just fine. Not a lot has changed, but I do agree that it's time to start thinking about removing her tube. I saw your note on that while I was flipping through her chart last night."

Regina rolled her eyes.

"Thanks, Mary Margaret. I know you get out of here in about fifteen minutes. Does Zelena have her again today?"

The shorter brunette stood up and took the chart back from the doctor.

"Yes, she has her back. Don't worry. I'm sure she'll give you all the details when you come back up here later for rounds. Am I still taking Henry to school this morning?"

Regina sighed and nodded.

"There's a slight chance he's angry with me, again, because I forgot to tell him last night that I had this surgery this morning. Which, I need to head down there now. Are you back tonight?"

"Don't fret. It's nothing some pancakes at Granny's on the way to school can't fix, I'm sure. I'm back tonight and tomorrow night, and then I'm off."

Regina smiled gratefully and patted her friend's arm.

"Thank you so much Mary Margaret. I'll see you later."

They shared parting ways as the shorter brunette wished the doctor good luck, and Regina turned to head to surgery.

Regina quickly caught an elevator before the morning rush and was checking into the OR before 7am. She looked at her watch, then walked into the surgical prep area where her patient was lying on a stretcher, looking at the big team of people around her who were making last minute adjustments. Regina glided up to the woman and smiled.

"Hello, Mrs. Bell, how are you this morning?"

The sweet old lady looked up at Regina and held out her hand, which the brunette promptly took.

"I'm a little nervous this morning, Dr. Mills. However, I know you're going to do a wonderful job, just like you always have."

Regina squeezed the elderly woman's hand and patted her shoulder.

"There's nothing for you to worry about, Tina. You know our staff, and we won't let anything happen to you. We figure the surgery will take around five hours, and when it's over we'll send you to recovery. You'll recognize some of the faces on SICU from your previous stays. I'll be by to check on you later tonight. Depending on how fast you recover, we'll have you out of SICU and onto MPCU before you know it."

The woman smiled and nodded. Regina bent down and kissed the woman's cheek and brushed her hair back from her forehead.

"Alright Mrs. Tina, I'm going to let the gang get you situated and prepped while I get myself ready, and I'll see you in there, ok dear?"

She walked off to her own prep area and began the monotonous process of sanitizing and organizing. She ran a strict OR, and she always maintained that everything be perfect, every time, no excuses. She walked into the surgical room and rolled her neck around on her shoulders.

"Alright team, let's do this."


	5. Chapter 5

song: **Live For Real** - _K's Choice_

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><p>It was a little after noon, and Dr. Mills was just pulling the needle through the last stitch over her patient's heart. She cut the thread and mentally congratulated herself for a job well done. There had been minimal bleeding during the surgery, and she was very happy with the vitals of the little old lady laying flat on the operating table. She took a step back and rested her hand on the old woman's shoulder.<p>

"Alright everybody, I would say this is one for the books. Thank you all so much for a job well done." She praised her team, then stepped back from the table to allow the Nurses and Surgical Techs to do their job. A young man in green scrubs walked up, looking at Regina like she had hung the moon.

"Wow, Dr. Mills. Congratulations. That was a beautiful surgery. What's your secret?"

The brunette could hardly contain the smirk behind her operating mask as the young observational student gushed over her work. Billy had been holding on to every moment of the complicated surgery as if he were mentally recording every tiny movement with his eyes.

"Magic hands," she replied, as she held up her palms up and wiggled her fingers.

The student dropped his jaw as if he almost believed for a moment that her hands actually contained healing powers. He then laughed at her joke, and stepped aside to allow the doctor by.

"Take care of Ms. Bell, and when she is stabilized and awake have someone page me so that I can come by to re-evaluate her down in SICU. I have a few other patients to check on while she's coming around," she told the head surgical tech.

It was true - she did need to see a few patients on Cardiac, but her mind was most focused on the sleeping blonde in MICU. She shed her surgical gear and threw the gown, little booties, gloves, mask and hair net into the Contamination Bin and grabbed the bag she had brought with her to work. Trudging up the hallway towards the elevator shaft, she felt her belly rumble with hunger. It was then she remembered she hadn't eaten anything for breakfast.

"Damn it," she silently cursed to herself. There really wasn't enough time to coast by two patient's rooms, hit up the MICU, _and_ eat, all before heading uptown to pick her son up from school to bring him to his baseball practice. She mentally slapped herself in the face, as the realization sunk in. There really wasn't any questioning it, though. Foregoing food was the only option she saw available for herself, because sacrificing patient care was not in her vocabulary, and she would be damned if she missed another one of her son's practices. This was just going to have to be yet another day where she didn't eat until she got home.

She reached the elevator and pressed the button for the Cardiac Unit on the 9th floor. Stepping into the elevator. It was going to be a long afternoon.

* * *

><p>The dull rumble of the food cart reverberated through the hallway as it slowly rolled onto the floor of MICU. The server began routing through the trays and bottles on her cart, and calling out the different rooms that patients were in. Each nurse stood and walked to the cart to take the proffered trays before disappearing into the coordinating rooms to feed their patients.<p>

"Heya Zelena, this is for your patient in Bed 5."

The redhead smiled to the server as she grabbed a bottle of Nepro off the cart. Her face twisted into a slight grimace, then she turned to the blonde nurse that sat behind her computer.

"I'm going to have to talk to Dr. Mills about this Nepro. I really think she needs to be on Jevity."

The blonde nurse slowly shook her head. "At least you've got some kind of strange power over that woman. She listens to almost everything you say. I can't rein her in no matter what I do."

Zelena merely laughed and rolled her eyes.

"Well, when you've known her as long as I have, you find that her bark is worse than her bite," she giggled, then quickly sobered, "unless she's feeling vengeful. If that's the case, all you can do is ride it out or run."

"Vengeful?" The blonde nurse's eyes narrowed.

"Let's just say, don't ever tear the head off her Barbie Dolls and you'll be fine."

The blonde's eyes widened in surprise as she looked over the redhead's shoulder.

"You forgot the part where you also took a lighter to them and their bodies melted into plastic puddles on the sidewalk."

Zelena whipped around to come face to face with her slightly shorter, but no less threatening, sister.

"Come on now, sis! I can't help it if I was jealous that you'd rather play with dollies than me. I mean, after all, you _were_ in London to visit _me,_ right?"

There was a moment where the proverbial pin and had dropped to the ground, and the blonde nurse held her breath in anticipation for an all out brawl. Then, suddenly, both women were giggling in fits of laughter at the memory, and the blonde realized they had been teasing each other.

"Wow, I was really ready for a witch fight between you two," the nurse mused. Her comment only caused the two women to laugh even harder until they were practically wiping tears from their eyes.

"Oh stop it now, sis, you'll run your mascara, and you haven't even been in to see your lovely damsel yet."

The brunette sniffed and grabbed a hold of the bottle of Nepro and took it from her sister as she spun around and started walking towards Bed 5.

"Oh, my _damsel_, is that what we're calling her now?"

They entered the room, and Regina sat the bottle of liquid food onto the nightstand beside the bed. Was it just her, or had colour started blossoming over the blonde's face?

"Well, that's the word on the street, sis. After all, you did rescue her from Dr. Whale."

Regina rolled her eyes and grabbed her stethoscope from around her neck. She glared up at her sister before moving the microphone of the stethoscope to the blonde's chest.

"I don't know about rescuing, but at least she doesn't have to suffer at the hands of that ridiculous fool anymore."

They were silent for a few moments as Regina ran her stethoscope over the blonde's chest listening to her breathe. She walked around the bed, observing her closely. Her hands worked over the still form of the woman, checking for signs of edema or any indication that she was experiencing blood clots from laying in the bed so long.

"I trust you've been turning her properly, Zelena?"

The redhead nodded and pointed to the white board opposite the bed.

"Yup. Every two hours. I've been documenting it here on the board because I knew you would ask. She's on her back now because I'm about to feed her, but then she'll rotate towards the window."

Regina nodded and crossed back over to the bedside table. "I'll feed her, if that's alright." Meeting no rejection from the redhead, she opened a drawer and began riffling through it, looking for alcohol pads. Her hand landed on something solid, and she peered over the edge to see what was inside. A leather bound book with the words "Grimm's Fairy Tales" etched in gold sat beneath a few packets of unopened gauze.

"Zelena," she murmured, moving closer to pick up the book, "what is this?"

The redhead peered over her sister's shoulder to see what she was referring to. She laughed and put her right hand on the brunette's shoulder.

"That belongs to Mary Margaret. She's been reading fairytales to the Jane Doe at night. She says it helps with brain stimulation. They call her Sleeping Beauty on nightshift."

Regina nodded and shrugged her shoulders. "Hmm. Well, whatever works, works. I mean, her skin already looks better today than it did yesterday. I'm going to call Respiratory to get a consult with Dr. Mal, and we will remove her breathing tube tomorrow. I almost want to do it today, but I'm taking Henry to his baseball practice tonight, and I want to be here when they remove it incase she doesn't take well to it and needs to be re-intubated."

Just as she closed her mouth, her stomach let out a wild growl. Zelena almost jumped at the sound, and Regina quickly found the ceiling to be a very interesting place to look. The redhead glanced down at her watch.

"Regina," she started in a knowing tone, and then poked her sister in the ribs, "what have I told you about not eating? It's almost 2pm and I'm willing to bet you've put _nothing_ in your stomach all day."

The brunette glanced back at the blonde on the bed and shrugged, "I've put something in my stomach."

"Coffee doesn't count, sis," the redhead tsked.

"Well, it was either that or come see her, and I felt really compelled to see her."

Zelena threw her hands up in exasperation. "I absolutely can not believe you. What is your goal here, Missy? To shrivel away into nothing? You won't be much good to her or anyone else if you can't even walk for lack of passing out. Listen, _you_ stay here and cater to the princess here, while _I_ once again go and fetch your lunch. You can eat it in the car on the way to Henry's school. I don't want to hear a peep out of you, either."

Regina knew she was out of excuses, so she didn't protest. Thank God for her sister. Regina was always so busy looking after all her patients that she sometimes neglected to take care of herself, but she surmised that her sister was right in her frustration. She really wouldn't be good to anyone if her blood sugar dropped so low that she was rendered unable to properly function. She watched the redhead storm out of the room and shook her head. After a beat, she glanced back down to the steady in and out breathing of the blonde.

"So, they're calling you Sleeping Beauty, hmm?"

She grabbed the bottle of Nepro from the nightstand and twisted off the top.

"It definitely suits you better than **Jane Doe**, that's for sure."

She pulled the blonde's gown up and laid her bed flat before she picked up the end of the woman's feeding tube. She began to wipe the entry site with alcohol, cleaning it before she prepped the Nepro. She measured out the accurate dosage and poured it into the feeding tube, holding the end up in the air as it very slowly drained down the tube and into the blonde's belly.

"Listen to me, Princess. I know you're in there, and I know that you're no poor damsel in distress. You're a strong young woman, and I need you to be extra strong for me this week. We're going to remove that tube that's helping you breathe, and see if you can manage those lungs on your own with the help of a little thing we call a nasal cannula. It's going to provide a continuous stream of oxygen through your nose, so I hope you're not a mouth breather," she laughed at her own little geeky doctor joke. "But seriously, I need you to hold on for me this week, and just keep breathing. Keep that heart beating. Don't let go, not yet. I'm not going to let you down, but I need you to promise me that you won't let me down, either."

The soft, repetitive in and out of the breathing machine was the only response she got.


End file.
